Tuesday, February 25, 2020

On the Road to the Grammys with Steel Pulse


By Shelah Moody



        February is Reggae Month. Yes, Reggae Month was officially declared by the Jamaican government in 2008; and now it is commemorated with a series of concerts and events worldwide. In the spirit of Bob Marley, whose birthday falls on Feb. 6, Streetwise Radio follows the journey of foundation reggae band Steel Pulse to the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. 
    Steel Pulse was recently nominated a Grammy for their socially and politically conscious album, “Mass Manipulation.” Streetwise Radio’s own  Shelah Moody was asked to help coordinate their walk on the Red Carpet. Here’s a timeline of what transpired. 


May 17, 2019–Steel Pulse releases “Mass Manipulation,” their first album in 15 years, on the Rootfire Cooperative label. 





Nov. 20, 2019 Nominations for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards are announced in 84 categories. “Mass Manipulation” receives a nomination for Best Reggae Album, along with recordings by Koffee (“Rapture”), Third World (“More Work to be Done”) Julian Marley (“As I Am”) and Sly and Robbie (“The Final Battle: Sly & Robbie vs Roots Radics”). Throughout their 45  year career, Steel Pulse has received nine Grammy nominations. Steel Pulse received their first Grammy for “Babylon the Bandit” in 1986.


September 25, 2019, Grammy Awards voting opens for Recording Academy members. 


Oct. 10, 2019, First round voting by Recording Academy members ends. 


Dec. 9, 2019, the final round of voting by Recording Academy members begins.


Jan. 3, 2020 The final round of voting by Recording Academy members ends.




Jan. 25, 2020, 3 p.m. After landing in LA for Grammy weekend festivities, David Hinds, Steel Pulse’s lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist and his son Baruch Hinds (rapper) stop at a local mall in Los Angeles to put some finishing touches on their attire for Grammy week. David selects a slim-fitting blue suit by Ralph Lauren and shoes by Aldo and Tahari.


David Hinds

Jan.  25, 2020, 5 p.m.  David and Baruch head back to the hotel to get ready for the Grammy Nominee celebration at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. In a sweet moment, David helps Baruch with his tie and contemplates his look for the red carpet.





Jan. 25, 2020, 6:30 p.m. Steel Pulse arrives at Grammy Nominee Celebration at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. They are greeted by their manager, Paul “Ras Pablo” Palmer, who escorts them upstairs to collect their bronze nominee medallions.




They stop to chat with Jazzmeia Horn, 2019 Grammy nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album (“Love and Liberation”). They also meet up with Reid Foster, general manager of Rootfire Cooperative.

Jazzmeia Horn

Jan. 25, 2020, 7:00 p.m. David and Baruch, joined by Steel Pulse’s sound engineer, Scorpion Omari, check out the fancy vittles at the buffet and discover some nice vegetarian and seafood options. They run into 2016  Grammy-nominee Rocky Dawuni, an acclaimed reggae artist from Ghana. 


Rocky Dawuni & David Hinds

Jan. 25, 2020, 8:45 p.m Throughout the evening, David and Baruch meet and greet Recording Academy trustees and governors from San Francisco and Washington, DC.  They also mingle with 2019 Grammy nominees from classical, jazz and Hawaii music genres who are also Steel Pulse fans. Among them are Catherine Russell (nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album, “Alone Together”) and Kimberly Kauikeolani Miner (nominee for Best Regional Roots Music Album, “Hawaiian Lullaby”). As an activist for native Hawaiian sovereignty, Miner is impressed when David tells her that he has been to Mauna Kea. 


David Hinds & Kimberly Kauikeolani Miner



Jan. 26, 2020, 11:30 a.m. David, Baruch, and Scorpion joined by Steel Pulse band members Selwyn Brown (keyboards, vocals, melodica), Amlak Tafari (bass) David Elecciri (guitar),  Stephen Bradley (trumpet), former member Sidney Mills (keyboards) and several friends and family members of the band gather outside of the Microsoft Theatre in LA, where the award for Best Reggae Album will be announced at the Grammy Premiere Ceremony.  But on this exciting morning, Elecciri seems sad and distracted. He says, quietly, that he has heard that NBA star Kobe Bryant has been killed in a helicopter crash. What? This cannot be true! People in the crowd begin to check their cell phones.




Jan. 26, 2020, 12:30 p.m. The Premiere Ceremony begins. Amidst the festivities; the mood is somber. The horrifying story is confirmed. Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among eight people killed in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, CA. Host  Imogen heap asks for a moment of silence.




Jan. 20, 1:29 p.m. Suspense builds as Grammy-winning jazz musician Esperanza Spalding announces the nominees for Best Reggae Album. “Koffee, Rapture.” 
          Everyone claps as Koffee makes her way to the stage and the musical director Cheche Alara and his band play riffs of “Amen,” a composition by multiple Grammy winner Ziggy Marley. 
       History is made as Mikayla Simpson, aka Koffee, a 20-year-old dancehall sensation from Jamaica becomes the first woman and the youngest reggae artist to receive a Grammy for Best Reggae Album. https://youtu.be/qy3QQvLSqLg


Amlak Tafari Congratulates Koffee

          “Blessings, blessings everyone,” Koffee begins. “Thank you so much. I first would like to thank the producers and everyone who helped to make ‘Rapture’ what it is today. I would also like to pay my respect to Julian Marley, Steel Pulse, Sly and Robbie, and Morgan Heritage for the impact they’ve made in the industry and the music. I’ve learned a lot from them and from other older people in the industry, and that’s why I’m here; that’s what brought us all here. So I just want to say that this one’s for all of us; this one’s for reggae, these ones for Jamaica. Thank you very much.”
Flava Flav

Jan. 26, 2020, 4:30 p.m. After watching Premiere Ceremony performances by Angelique Kidjo; Yola and other artists, the Pulse start their procession to the Grammy Red Carpet tent, where they will pass media outlets such as CBS, People magazine, Rolling Stone, Essence.com, Blacktree TV and more. It’s. frenzy. The Pulse strolls the red carpet at the same time as industry giants and influencers such as Smokey Robinson, Keith Urban, Yolanda Adams, Quavo, John Legend, and Chrissy Teigen. The Pulse grabs a fab. photo op on the red carpet with rap legend Flava Flav and his crew and David Hinds gets a hug and photo op from Cyndi Lauper. 
Cyndi Lauper


Jan. 26, 2020; 5:30 p.m. The 62nd annual Grammy Awards televised ceremony kicks off at the Staples Center and Steel Pulse and their entourage take their seats in the VIP section. The venue has become a shrine to fallen hero Kobe Bryant. Fans in Lakers jerseys gather outside of the Staples Center to mourn and leave flowers and candles. Glowing banners and photos of Black Mamba appear throughout the building as well as luminous images of his jersey numbers, 8 and 24. It is surreal. 


Jan. 26, 2020 9:30 p.m. Eighteen-year-old Billie Eilish has walked away with the final Grammy award of the evening, for “Bad Guy.” Steel Pulse heads to the annual Grammy after-party at the Staples Center.  As the band members wait in line, Koffee and her team are seen leaving the after-party. Wait! “Will you take a photo with Steel Pulse?” 
Grammy Winner Koffee Surrounded by Steel Pulse

     “Yes!” Says the tiny winner of the night, smiling with a mouth full of braces. Her energy is warm and loving and she hugs a woman who had just lost her elderly father that morning. 
    The band surrounds Koffee for an epic photo, and kind words and congratulations are exchanged by all. Connections are made. Generation gaps are bridged.
Follow Steel Pulse on tour this spring, steelpulse.com.
Check out their latest video, “Higher Love,” featuring Mykal Rose and Inner Circle: https://youtu.be/upV2ZY-_bHMhttps://youtu.be/upV2ZY-_bHM
For continued Grammy coverage, go to Grammy.com.




Wednesday, February 5, 2020

We Built This City on Rock and Soul



We Built This City on Rock and Soul
By Shelah Moody



London Breed

       San Francisco is a city filled with music. 
       Case in point, when London Breed was inaugurated for her first full term as Mayor of San Francisco on January 8, who could have been a better choice to help her celebrate her victory than guitar icon and SF native Carlos Santana.
     After Mayor Breed took the oath of office and delivered her inaugural speech,  https://youtu.be/TCE1ff_58ug  the Grammy-winning band Santana and special guest, gospel great Yolanda Adams, took the stage in the City Hall Rotunda and performed “Holy Holy” a song made popular by Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin. https://youtu.be/fLblnEetCpA

                                                                 Santana and Yolanda Adams

          Santana, who grew up in San Francisco’s historic Mission District, was accompanied by world-class musicians including acclaimed jazz/rock drummer Cindy Blackman Santana  (his wife) and on backing vocals, Oakland-based producer and Grammy trustee Larry Batiste. 
        In a rare speech after his performance, Carlos praised Mayor Breed for changing the political narrative in the Bay Area and the world in general. https://youtu.be/pPToKQWUkCA 
        After delivering her speech and greeting dignitaries and the members of Santana, Mayor Breed welcomed attendees and their families to a meet and greet and photo op a la Drew Altizer.

Simone Batiste

         Simone Batiste, daughter of Larry Batiste, was one of the attendees who was inspired by Breed’s inauguration ceremony and her message.
          “It was beautiful; The event was very inspiring and very motivating,” said Batiste. “I went to the inauguration with my mom, my dad and my little sister who is a sophomore in college. It was amazing to see a woman in power make a change in what leadership can look like. Watching my dad perform with Santana was great, too. Santana is a legend and watching history take place and Santana being there made everything come full circle. The thing about Carlos Santana’s music is that it brings together good vibes and good feelings. Anybody can dance to it, anyone can listen to it.”

George Washington High School Eagle Marching band

          Mayor Breed’s inaugural musical selections reflected in her pride in the city where she was born and raised. The inauguration kicked off with musical selections by the George Washington High School Eagle Marching band from San Francisco (although Breed, who grew up in the historic Western Addition, graduated with honors from Galileo High School).
         Acclaimed singer/songwriter Katie Kadan, who blew people away on “The Voice” singing competition, was chosen to perform the “Star-Spangled Banner.” https://youtu.be/9ON3efCVJ6E
     On Jan.13, another grand musical event took place in San Francisco, as the Recording Academy and Another Planet Entertainment presented the Bay Area Grammy Nominee celebration. (On Jan. 31, two time Grammy winner and Oakland native  Fantastic Negrito threw a world-class blues, rock and soul New Year’s Eve party at the same venue.
        Camilo Landau, president of the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy; introduced the diverse group of 2019 Bay Area Grammy nominees including: 
         Tycho Featuring Saint Sinner—Best Dance/Electronic Album
         Death Angel—Best Metal Performance
         Joshua Redmond Quartet—Best Jazz Instrumental Album
         Gregory Alan Isakov—-Best Folk Album
         Northern Cree—-Best Regional Roots Music Album
          Alphabet Rockers—Best Children’s Music Album
          Todd Sickafoose—Best Musical Theatre Album 
          Leslie Ann Jones—- Best Engineered  Album, Classical.


Alphabet Rockers

       The members of the Alphabet Rockers; founders Kaitlin McGraw and Tommy Shepherd
 Kali De Jesus, Lillian Ellis, Maya Femming and Tommy Shepherd III were so excited about receiving their second Grammy nomination for their hip-hop infused album “The Love,” that they broke into chants of affirmation on the dance floor, then headed to the red carpet for photos. Alphabetrockers.com
          “It feels really good, and it feels good to be able to make music to make a change,” said Shepherd.
          “It makes me feel really good to be nominated because we’ve all worked really hard on this album and I think it deserves to be nominated,” said Flemming. 


For more information and for a live stream if the 2020 awards ceremony, go to Grammy.com.


For coverage of the 2020 Grammy Awards ceremony, stay tuned to Streetwise Radio!